skinnysusan

This time of season s especially hard for me. What with the parties coming up, and my birthday (2 days before Christmas)it's so hard not to eat those sweets! But if you can do it! Drinking your water, especially before a meal curbs your appetite and I always use a smaller plate.

The best deserts I've found have been in Nadia's book "Thinking Skinny". I've said it on here again and I'll say it again, try the chocolate cake recipe in the book or go to the Thinking Skinny website! www.thinkingskinny.com. Here...it's simple and with Thanksgiving here, you use one can of pumpkin pie filling and whatever box cake mix you want! No eggs, oil...just pumpkin! IT'S AMAZING! So very moist!

I tell you what I want to hear from you. Make this delicious cake and report back to me your thoughts on it.
LET'S HEAR FROM YOU!!!

I better stop, the turkey is calling me!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

Well, I'm still here and still losing! I've been away for awhile, sorry, but my art work and my involvement at the Art Gallery I belong too, has me quite busy.

I have re-read Nadia's book once again refresh my goals and thinking. Like a ballerina, which I was long ago, positioning your body, arms feet and legs during class is utmost important. When you are in performances a lot of that gets displaced because of the choreography. So once the performances come to an end you refresh your mind and body back to where it was. This is what I have done recently with my Thinking Skinny.

I have tried yet another recipe in the book and it was unbelievable! So yummy! It was with the port Tenderloin and salsa. Melted in my mouth it did! Ladies, those of you who are reading my posts, if any....these recipes are truly delicious!

As for my walking, I do alot of that at work. I'm on my feet for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, so when I get home I do 100 situps. So, its been slow but I'd rather lose slow than fast.

Turkey day is almost here and it is not a good time to watch your weight, however, I aim to do just that. I plan not to stuff myself like the bird that I will be eating.

So, to end my little post, I will say, Happy Thanksgiving to you all and may God truly bless your love ones!

 I know I haven't been around as of late.  Getting ready for Sarwat Chadda from the UK is very time consuming.   Although I haven't gain any weight, I haven't lost any either.  

At the present time, I am not in good health and so doing my walking outside hasn't been on my list of things I should be doing at the moment.  I have a pinched nerve that has put me in severe pain and leaves my arms weak when it strikes.  So I'm on muscle relaxers and an anti-inflamatory (I don't think I'm spelling correctly today), anyway, both leave me quite sleepy.  My skin on my chest burns constantly, faintly (thank goodness) so I'm bothered by that.  I can't help think that God is punishing me, feel like Job.

Anyway, I will continue to do everything I can to maintain or if possible lose my weight and to take life one day at a time.

With God at my side...all things are possible.

Peace...

 I'm back again, and just finished my walk, 3065 steps in 20 minutes.  I walk about that much if not more at work!

This entre will be short because I have two art projects due at the end of this week, but I do want to leave some inspiration for those of you who are following this, if any are...it doesn't matter who you are, or what size you are, what matters is how you feel about yourself.  You can be as skinny as a super model and still not feel good about you.  I know, I've watched enough America's Next Top Model to notice their self esteem.

You need to be positive, about everything, that will carry over to whatever you take on in life.  What you do in life is not to make others happy, but you should do what makes you happy and the rest will come naturally.

So when you are out there, working, playing, writing, running or walking...stand tall, you are beautiful!

Now I'll go eat some carrots...

 Unlike Julie & Julia where Julie did not get to meet Julia Child, I, however; did!  Well, not Julia Child, I met Nadia Giordana, author of Thinking Skinny and my whole reason for this journal.

I haven't been around as much as I would like, my artwork has taken most of my time, but I have lost another pound and so I am down to 135.
I walk over 6 miles a day and I've been watching what I eat and trying desparately not to snack, which has been hard.

My meeting with Nadia was wonderful!  I met her at  Starbucks and we hugged each other.  We talked about this and that, and she gave me 3 more copies of her Thinking Skinny book and cards to hand out.  I, being thrilled to death at finally meeting this wonderful lady, decided to give her a print of her favorite art work of mine, "Girl with Crow" which is being published in her magazine sometime this year.  

We must have talked for about an hour or so and then we both had other plans for the day, hers more exciting than mine, I cleaned house when I got home.  It gave my holiday a boost meeting her and I hope to meet her where she lives come next summer.

I will say this, that no matter what happens in our lives, work, school, kids, housework, take time to smell the roses and thank God for yet another day in your life and go for a walk.  Enjoy life, it's short as it is, so don't neglect it.

I thank him and everything I do is for him.  

Just don't forget to...THINK SKINNY!

Peace!

The whole part of journaling my way through the book Thinking Skinny is to also try out the delicious receipes.  I have to say, they are great!  So much flavor and the chocolate cake....you have to try!  It's just a any cake mix, and 1 can of pumpkin!  That's it!  I added a zip to it, but using cool whip light and folded in sugar free chocolate pudding for the frosting.

Nadia, bravo!

 I never knew the power blogs had on peopel, although I've yet to see it happen to me.  

I went and saw the movie Julie & Julia, awesome movie and it inspired me so much, because like Julie blogging her way through Julia Childs cook book, I am blogging (journaling) my way through Thinking Skinny!  So much had happened to her, and I can't say what because some of you may not have seen it yet, but when you do, I will just say that I don't think my blogging will have much impact as hers did.

I haven't kept track of my calorie intake, but I have been watching what I eat, nor have I taken my walks (bad me), but I've got so much going on with my artwork, that I don't have time to do everything!  My house thank goodness is being kept up.

I will say that I have noticed my pants are falling off my hips now, so in that respect I am doing great!  My "skinny" jeans...well lets just say...muffin top still, but not as much.

I pray that each day will bring me closer to God and to my goal.  I know I can do it because God is helping me.  

Work starts tomorrow for me, I'll be loads of walking then on top of my 3 miles, so this should help...just got to not be tempting for the schools pizza!  NOSE PLUG PLEASE!

Tell then...Bon Appetite!

Well, seeing how I am still at a stand still, I have signed up for Jazzercise classes at the First Presbyterian church.  My walking 3 miles everyday just wasn't enough!  Here I thought that would work as far as exercising was concerned.  Nope.  Still have my lovely muffin top.

I've been doing ok as far as eating habits are concerned, but I have been eating at night, small snacks.  I snack when under stress and right now I'm under stress.  Having female problems that are quite concerning and this waiting to hear my test results are driving me crazy.

Yesterday, was a good day for me, was very upbeat and full of energy, but I can't stop worrying.  I should think of it as...no new is good news, but then they did say it would take at least 10 days for results and it's only been 3...feels like 10 already.

Keep the faith and hold your head up! My moto for the day.  Follow him and he'll lead you the the straight and narrow path.

It's been a hectic week and weekend.  Getting my manuscript out to the publishers.  I spent, literally, the whole day editing it and finishing it up. 

I have stayed on my diet, giving Sunday a day of rest.  When God created the earth, he rested on the last day, and so I make that my obligation also.  To reflect and relax.

I also found going back to my rosary very helpful in getting myself back to God.  I always used the rosary to help me in understand stressful times and to also help me in my life.  Mary, Mother of God, has always be such a comfort to me.  I have a wrist rosary, that I wear and when I walk I say my rosary.  It's made out of an olive tree from Jerusalem.

If you are serious in losing the weight, read Thinking Skinny it is truly a blessing for me.  It is bringing me back to God and without his help, I wouldn't be losing the weight without him.

I am down to 134!

Well I'm staying on target, but I haven't lost anymore weight.   My next approach is to exercise a little bit more.  I walk everyday for 2 miles, infact, I walked last night because I didn't have the chance to do it during the day and I wasn't going to miss out on that.  I played it safe though, I kept walking up and down my street (which is half a block) until I hit my 2 mile marker.  It was nice at night, not so hot, but then I had to deal with the bugs!  I also, do ab exercises (I have an ab lounger) and I have this band from my physical therapist where I use it to strengthen my inner/outer leg muscles.

I go back to work on August 25th, which will put me into temptation, because their pizza is out of this world!  That, and their Bosco sticks. 
I will do my best to not breath in the smells of my favorite food.  I might treat myself if I can forgo the temptation as a treat for myself.

Needing to lose 10 pounds may not seem like much and it really isn't, but to me it's like a mountain.  I will have to put my trust in God, and have him help me to achieve my goal.

So, here is to my next successful weight loss!

my.sparkpeople.com/SAOIRSE6


Keep me company and see how I'm doing as well as on here!

Even though I have lost a few pounds I still don't see it.  I put on my body foundation, which mainly is a garment that fits tightly around my middle section, tummy included which helps with my muffin top, but then I end up with a muffin top on the top ,on my back side.  I wanted to cry last night.  My husband says I can't wear my conforming tops and that I'll have to wear baggy until I lose all the weight.  This did not help me any and added to my frustration even more.

I am frustrated, I feel like I'm never going to loose this and I weighed myself this morning only to find that I gained a pound, although my scale is sometimes wacky, because at the doctors office I'll be 2 pounds less than what I weighed at home, but still...

I've been sticking to the diet plan that I have never going over my calorie intake of 1200, I'm slightly  under all the time.  I don't know.

Just highly frustrated as all get out.

It's been an exciting adventure for me.  I know I have to push myself to go out and walk, but I do it anyway and I'm glad for it.  The end result is that I lost another pound from a starting weight of 138 I am now 135.

I did my walk as I said, did 2017 steps, then it started to down pour!  I also mowed the lawn, front lawn, my son did the back.  That alone got me breathing heavily when I got done!  Our lawn mower is heavy and hard to push.  Oh, and I also walked at the mall, seeing how it was raining this morning.  I bought a lovely sweater ,on sale of course,while I was there.

This will be a short post, but none the less a good one still.

ONWARD!

Well, as you can see I have lost a pound already!  It's hard work, because temptation is SO great.  Just this morning I was eyeing Hostess Ho Ho's and I wanted one so badly, but I tucked the thought away and grabbed my Kellogg's Nutri-grain fruit bar.  Then, I logged in what I had for breakfast on my calarie count site...caloriecount.about.com/ and then went for a 30 minute walk and walked 3087 steps.  Then, I had my kellogg protein drink, (kiwi/strawberry) which will help me to not snack until lunch time.

It's been an awesome day so far.  I carry my sony erickson phone which is also a mp3 player and play the soundtrack from You've Got Mail. It keeps the pace  for me so well that by the time the slow songs start I am about a block away from home.  So, it starts to cool me down. 

Visualizations!  Oh they played a HUGE part in my walking routine.  If you are like me, walking is not my favorite thing to do, it's like running, which I can't do because my knee caps are about shot, but visual and get your music.  Sometimes I'll listen to my audio books when I walk, but make sure it's not a weepy story, you'll look silly crying as you are walking!  People will probably think, 'If she hates walking that bad, why doesn't she stop!" LOL 

On my last block of walking and almost home, I visualize I am a model, on a runway for a show.  If you walk placing your feet in front of each other as you walk, you'll feel it big time in your, for better lack of words, rear.  It's because you are forcing your foot over more which uses those muscles, so girls walk like a model because you are one!

So yippie skippie for me the day is going great so far!

 Meet Yoanna.  America's Next Top Model winner.  She lost 50 pounds for this event, very relgious, would say prayers before a photo shoot or challenge.  I wanted her to win and she did.  I will win also!

Well according to the weather man, today was going to be extremely hot and humid.  So first thing I did after I had my breakfast was to go ride my bike.  I not only made it a part of my exercise routine of the day, but there were loads of garage sales in our neighborhood that I rode my bike to all of them!  Came back home very sweaty.

I stuck to eating healthy, had 3 8oz. of water, flavored with orange juice.  I made a great dinner which we had salmon cook with a tablespoon of olive oil, salad laid over a bed of rice.  Lunch was also a winner.  My husband made chicken salad with sliced almonds, grapes and used mayo that had olive oil in it.

Ate alot of fruit as well.

I also got out my body foundation and wore that, which helped me feel better about myself, and that my "muffin top" was not visible.

So, here's to another successful day tomorrow.

 Day 3 of my journey and this pictures shows me that I was once skinny and that I can do it again.

I have never felt close to God, I don't know why, I guess I just don't feel worthy.   I want that relationship back.  When I was in High School, I wanted to become a nun, but I thought I couldn't because I wasn't Catholic, so I never pursued it.  But I can remember how happy I was and the closeness I had with him and I want that back.

During the time of my parents death, I prayed and prayed and I placed it in his hands, because I couldn't handle the pain I was going through.  I had lost so much weight when my mother passed away, my father was afraid for me, I was down to 99 pounds.  Then when he died, that's when I fell apart.

I found him again, when I became agoraphobic.  I found such peace in going to church (with the help of meds to get me there), that I became dependent on him to get me through this, which he did!  I got tired of being stuck in the house, I took myself off all my meds and made myself go places.  I still suffer at times alittle bit of it at times of stress, but I know how to deal with it.

So, this 3rd day of my journey, is working through God and finding a lost relationship with him.  I will take a walk with him in the morning before I start each day and trust him. 

One night I dreamed a dream.
I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.

When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.

"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

---

Margaret Fishback Powers, 1964

Well, this being my 2nd day of my journey it has not been a good one. 

I started out having my usual 1 cup of coffee in the morning and my oatmeal.  I did some work on an email for my artword to be bought at this store in Chicago, which they replied back saying it just wouldn't fit in the store (look wise).  Bummed out about that I went to my McDonalds got my ice coffee, with low fat milk and Cookie, a co-worker who I was her boss, gave me a hug and then patted my tummy saying; "pregnant?"  I politely thanked her for her assessment and walked away.

I didn't eat lunch, too depressed, but I'm having Chinese for dinner.  Hubby thought it would be something to cheer me up and I like their Chow Mein and rice.

Well, I'm getting really involved in reading Thinking Skinny, I put a picture of Yoanna, American next Top Model on my refrigerator.  She lost 50 pounds to be on the show and she is absolutely gorgeous!  So, I will take her lead.

"Tomorrow is always fresh, there are no mistakes in it..."

Till then....

Just a smal insignificant post, but I did want to say I received my Thinking Skinny Book and have found it truly inspirational!

Tomorrow...day 2 of my journey!

Yeah I know I said I would show pictures of me before to present day, but I decided to do that later!

 

I started my first journey hiking at Starved Rock State Park!  It started out a glorious day and then clouds started to roll in, FOG started to roll in, but I kept up my positive attitude and thought, well, if it were sunny out I'd be working up a sweat and ending up getting a migraine because I tend to do that when I get overheated....I got overheated anyway because the humidity was so high.  But I got an excellent workout! Made my hiking stick out of an old pool cue and cut in grooves all around it with this sander my husband has in his woodshop and glued this fat old toad at the top of it!  (I must take a picture of it for you guys!)

Anyway, I did end up with a migraine, but I took my meds and we had lunch at the Starved Rock lodge, at their outdoor cafe!  I stuffed myself, but I didn't eat any dinner when I got home.  Infact, I ended up sleeping on the couch.

OH! We took a boat ride while we were there.  I love boat rides! They are very relaxing, so relaxing that I fell asleep!

So, my first day of my journey was a good one, gave my heart a good work out and I ended up feeling good about my first day to becoming skinny!

 This is a personal journey of the many successes and failures I will endure as I fight my way back to becoming Skinny Sue.  I wanted to make this journey more meaningful not only to me but to those who find themselves in my shoes, battling the same woes I have been fighting with...fat.

You see I wasn't always this heavy.  I use to be 105, size 5 pants and wasn't ashamed to wear a bikini.  Now, I don't even like seeing myself in a one piece!  I now weigh 138, size 8/9 pants, which may not seem much to you, but when I look in the mirror I don't like what I see.  I don't like seeing photos of myself and I don't like the "muffin top" I have acquired.  I wear big clothing to hide my muffin and sucking in my tummy is becoming tiresome, not even girdles help all that much.  They are uncomfortable.

The author of Thinking Skinny, Nadia Giordana, http://thinkingskinny.com/about/ is a good friend of mine.  I will be reading and using the ideas and helpful tips on this new adventure of weight loss from this book.  I also received the Thinking Skinny newsletter, www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/subscription.php,  I will be starting my journey with the helpful ideas from them.  It is a very informative newsletter with exercise tips, receipes and loads more information that will kick start me on the road to success!

My next post will be a look into my past.  Pictures of my skinny self to present day and the start of my journey.

So, lets begin!